Australians report $82.1 million in losses

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s National Anti-Scam Centre division has found Australians reported $82.1 million in losses across October to December 2022, a 43 percent drop from the same quarter in 2022.

The findings show reported losses also dropped during the July to September quarter by 26 percent. 

The findings come as the end of 2023 marked six months since the National Anti-Scam Centre’s inception.

“During the October to December 2023 quarter, we continued to see progress towards our vision of making Australia the world’s hardest target for scammers,” the centre said. 

“We are achieving this through collaborative initiatives with partners in government, law enforcement, industry and consumer groups, while also engaging with Australians. 

“Based on Scamwatch data we are optimistic that the accelerating increase in losses to scams is beginning to turn,” the centre added.  

Other notable findings from the report found that comparing data with the same quarter in 2022 revealed a 38 percent decrease in investment scam losses to $52.4 million.

It also showed a 74 percent decrease in losses by cryptocurrency to $12.4 million and a 31 percent decrease in losses by bank transfer to $40.2 million

Other findings include a 22 percent decrease in losses “where social networking is the contact method” to $15.9 million.

In its use of technology to combat scams, the centre said it launched a Power BI Beta release which makes scam statistics publicly available.  

The work forms phase one of the government’s scam crackdown with phase two involving developing mandatory industry codes to impose tough new obligations on banks, telcos, and social media platforms to protect their customers from scams. 

The government also plans to implement Australia’s first SMS Sender ID Registry to prevent scammers from imitating trusted industry or government brand names. 

Assistant treasurer and minister for financial service Stephen Jones said, “Thanks to the Government's investment in tackling scams head-on, our scammer crackdown is helping keep people’s money safe.”

“Within six months the trend that saw scam losses double year‑on‑year has completely flipped – people's money is safer because the government is fighting back.

“Behind every dollar lost to scams is a heartbreaking story – we are working hard to intercept these malicious criminals before they can inflict pain on innocent Australians.

"While this report is a promising sign that our plan is working, we urge people to remain vigilant to scammers and keep up to date with advice from the ACCC to protect themselves,” Jones said.

Earlier in the year, the ACCC's Scamwatch division noted a 5.5 percent dip in overall financial losses in 2023 compared to the prior year.

Losses reported to Scamwatch in 2022 reached $569 million while overall losses reported to the organisation in 2023 were 5.5 percent lower at $480.7 million.